Groundwater Data

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread anthropogenic chemicals that have been in use for the past 70 years. This class of compounds comprises thousands of chemicals including perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs) such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). As the use of these chemicals has grown so has their ubiquity in...

The groundwater resources of the Plains of San Agustin basin are largely undeveloped, though recent interest in pumping and exporting some of these resources to the Albuquerque metropolitan area has caused uneasiness among some water-resources managers and the public. Protest and concern regarding this appropriation of water resources have been expressed by private, Federal, State, and Tribal...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) New Mexico Water Science Center (NM WSC), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), and Bernalillo County (BERNCO), will measure and analyze...

The Tri-County Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS) “decision area” (the public lands and resources that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Sierra, Doña Ana, and Otero Counties) is a large (4,375 square miles) and varied landscape. The decision area contains both connected and closed surface-water and groundwater basins, some of which cross state and...

In partnership with the USFWS Partner Program, the NMWSC has developed a network of piezometers and vegetation survey markers in order to assess groundwater levels and vegetation species at a proposed wetland area on the New Mexico Boy's and Girl's Ranch near Las Nutrias, NM. This proposed wetland area is intended to be maintained as both a flyway habitat for migratory birds, and as a training...

The Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the USGS National Water Census. The conjunctive use of water in the URGB takes place under a myriad of legal constraints including the Rio Grande Compact agreement between the States, an international treaty with Mexico, and several federal water projects. Development of...

The New Mexico Water Science Center (NMWSC) has historically conducted NAWQA data collection of groundwater and surface water-data within the former Rio Grande Valley (RIOG) study unit, which covers about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Declining water levels and a history of high nitrate concentrations in groundwater near and on Cannon Air Force Base (CAFB) necessitated a more detailed assessment of groundwater flow directions than has been done in the past. Previous potentiometric-surface maps were sufficient for showing regional directions of groundwater flow, but more detailed seasonal (summer high-pumping and winter low...

Data from monitoring sites at Rincon Valley and Mesilla Valley.

The San Juan Coal Mine, an underground mine located about 12 miles west-northwest of Farmington, NM, supplies coal to the adjacent San Juan Generating Station.

In the past, groundwater pumped from the Santa Fe Group aquifer system was the principal source of water for the Albuquerque metropolitan area of central New Mexico. The large quantity of groundwater pumping relative to recharge resulted in substantial drawdown in the aquifer system. In 2008 the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority began diverting water from the San Juan-Chama...

Historic and current groundwater data may be used to help guide water management in New Mexico. Groundwater levels measured by the USGS provide the public, State, and Federal agencies, and cooperators with reliable and impartial information.